Devotion for October 18, 2008

Seek True Peace

“Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.” (Romans 9:18 NKJV)

When God stirs your heart about the guilt of your sin, considering either its root and indwelling, or its breaking out, be careful you do not speak peace to yourself before God speaks it. Listen closely to what He says to your soul—John Owen.

Knowing that it is God’s prerogative to have mercy on whom He wills, and knowing He speaks peace to the believer in His due time, it should be the believer’s highest priority to seek true peace and not short circuit the process with self-deception. The human heart is very deceitful.

If a believer seeks to conceal, minimize, or alibi his sin to find peace he will find he has applied a bandage to a wound that requires surgery. The end will be worst than the beginning because left to putrefy he runs the risk of a life-threatening infection.

There are no shortcuts through true repentance. Running to the promises of God and intellectually applying them to your situation will not give the peace of a broken heart. It will only postpone the inevitable. However, think of the years lost to such foolishness. Think of the torment of soul one will endure should he tread this proud path, and what guarantee does he have that God will ever give him peace? “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard [it].” (Hebrews 4:2 NKJV)

True peace must come from God. It is a fruit of the Spirit. It comes by the grace of God. Therefore, fall before God and confess your sins, and keep crying and confessing until God fills your heart with forgiveness. “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11 NKJV)